Research Manager - Post-Training for Agents (NORAM)

Datadog, Inc.; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 244,000 - 305,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

New hire stock equity (RSUs)

Employee stock purchase plan (ESPP)

Healthcare benefits

Dental coverage

Parental planning

Mental health benefits

401(k) plan and match

Paid time off

Fitness reimbursements

Job summary

Datadog AI Research (DAIR) seeks a Research Manager to lead a team advancing reinforcement learning, post-training methods, and autonomous agents. You will shape technical direction, mentor researchers, and collaborate with product and engineering to translate research into scalable Datadog capabilities.

You will guide experiments, build environments, and publish work while maintaining a strong hands‑on research identity as a technical leader.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, ML, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Deep expertise in reinforcement learning, AI agents, post-training, or generative modeling.
• Experience leading technically ambitious research at scale.
• Hands-on experience designing or implementing RL systems and evaluation frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Lead research in agent post-training and reinforcement learning, setting the technical direction for ambitious programs.
• Mentor researchers and research engineers, shaping strategy, experimentation, and model development.
• Collaborate with Product and Engineering to translate research into Datadog capabilities.
• Present at conferences and contribute to open-source model artifacts and benchmarks.

Skills

Reinforcement learning

Research leadership

Mentoring researchers

Hands-on ML systems

Technical direction

Education

PhD in Computer Science, ML, or related field

Tools

Python

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Experimentation frameworks

Job description

As a Research Manager within Datadog AI Research (DAIR), you will lead a team working on fundamental research in post-training and autonomous agents while remaining deeply engaged in the technical direction of the work. You will advance reinforcement learning, simulated environments, synthetic data generation, and evaluation methods for agents operating across complex real-world systems. You will provide technical leadership to a team of researchers and research engineers, mentor and develop highly technical talent, shape research direction, and collaborate with Datadog’s product and engineering teams to translate research advances into products. This role is designed for an exceptional researcher or technical leader who wants to maintain a strong hands‑on research identity while developing and leading a high‑performing team. At Datadog, we place value in our office culture - the relationships and collaboration it builds and the creativity it brings to the table. We operate as a hybrid workplace to ensure our Datadogs can create a work‑life harmony that best fits them.

What You’ll Do:

• Lead research in agent post‑training and reinforcement learning, setting the technical direction for ambitious research programs grounded in observability and security
• Guide and mentor researchers and researchers engineers while remaining closely involved in research strategy, experimentation, model development, and technical problem‑solving
• Design and advance reinforcement learning approaches, post‑training methods, and training loops for agents operating in complex environments
• Build simulated environments, synthetic data generation approaches, and evaluation frameworks that enable scalable agent training and rigorous measurement
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams across Research, Product, and Engineering to translate advances in autonomous agents into scalable Datadog capabilities
• Contribute to research publications, present at top‑tier conferences such as NeurIPS, ICLR, and ICML, and help open‑source key model artifacts and benchmarks

Who You Are:

• You hold a PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field, or have equivalent experience, with deep expertise in areas such as reinforcement learning, AI agents, post‑training, or generative modeling
• You have demonstrated the ability to lead technically ambitious research at meaningful scale, whether in an industry research lab, startup, academic environment, or another research setting
• You have extensive hands‑on experience designing or implementing reinforcement learning systems, agent training methods, simulated environments, synthetic data pipelines, or evaluation frameworks
• You have a track record of research impact through influential publications, significant model or system contributions, widely used research artifacts, or equivalent technical achievements
• You have operated at a senior technical level and have experience leading, mentoring, and developing teams of researchers or engineers, while remaining deeply hands‑on in technical direction and execution
• You want to develop and support a research team while maintaining a strong technical identity, and you can communicate complex research findings effectively across technical and non‑technical audiences

Datadog values people from all walks of life. We know not everyone will meet all the above qualifications on day one. That’s okay. If you’re passionate about technology and want to grow your experience, we encourage you to apply.

Benefits and Growth:

• Competitive global benefits
• New hire stock equity (RSUs) and employee stock purchase plan (ESPP)
• Opportunity to collaborate closely with colleagues across the Datadog offices in New York City and Paris
• Opportunity to attend and present at conferences and meetups
• Intra‑departmental mentor and buddy program for in‑house networking
• An inclusive company culture, ability to join our Community Guilds (Datadog employee resource groups)

Benefits and Growth listed above may vary based on the country of your employment and the nature of your employment with Datadog.

#LI-Hybrid Datadog offers a competitive salary and equity package, and may include variable compensation.

Actual compensation is based on factors such as the candidate's skills, qualifications, and experience.

In addition, Datadog offers a wide range of best in class, comprehensive and inclusive employee benefits for this role including healthcare, dental, parental planning, and mental health benefits, a 401(k) plan and match, paid time off, fitness reimbursements, and a discounted employee stock purchase plan.

The reasonably estimated yearly salary for this role at Datadog is: $244,000 — $305,000 USD

About Datadog:

Datadog is the leading observability and security platform for the AI era, providing businesses with unified visibility across the technology stack to manage complexity at scale. It brings applications, infrastructure, data, models, and security into one place, using AI to detect and resolve issues before they impact customers. Trusted globally by Fortune 500 companies and high‑growth AI leaders, Datadog enables businesses to move faster with clarity and confidence. Learn more about #DatadogLife on Instagram , LinkedIn, and Datadog Learning Center.

Equal Opportunity at Datadog:

Datadog is proud to offer equal employment opportunity to everyone regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, veteran status, and other characteristics protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.

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